Stef walked around making her nightly rounds to the kid's bedrooms.

When she got to Callie and Mariana's room, she found Callie with her knees pulled up to her chest.

"Bug, you ok?"

"I'm so sorry."

"What for sweetie?"

"I'm sorry." Callie said as more tears slid down her cheeks.

Stef got closer and stood next to Callie's side, gently rubbing her back. "Baby, you have to tell me what's wrong."

"I… Ummm… I had, I had an accident."

Stef sat processing Callie's words for a minute, before she realized what the girl meant. Stef pulled the blankets away from Callie.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"Oh sweets, it's ok. Everyone has accidents sometimes; it's not a big deal love."

"Stef, I'm 16 I shouldn't be wetting the bed. I'm not a baby."

"Callie, it happens, it happens to pretty much everyone at least once."

"Yeah… When they are 6."

"Cal it's ok, let's go get you cleaned up a bit."

Stef grabbed some shorts from Callie's dresser handing them to her. "Go clean up and I will change the sheets."

"You don't have to do that, I can take care of it myself."

"It's what moms do love, just go get cleaned up."

"What's my punishment?"

"Callie, it was an accident, you're not getting in trouble sweets."

"Are you sure? I don't mind taking punishments when I did something wrong."

"Love, you did nothing wrong, ok this was an accident, nothing to bee embarrassed about, and nothing that is going to get you in trouble. Now go change."

After changing Callie walked back to her room. "See good as new sweets, now why don't you crawl back in bed and try to go to sleep."

"What's going to happen with me being sick? When is this all going to be over?"

"I don't know sweetie, we will talk about it more in the morning once we call the doctor and figure things out."

"I just want all these bad things to stop happening."

"I know love, but one day it will all be over. This will all be a fading memory."

"I hope so."

"Good night bug."

"Night mom… I love you."

Stef kissed her forehead, and walked out the door smiling. This was the first time Callie had said I love you to Stef, it made her heart so happy.

The next morning Lena called the doctor, he decided to have her come in so he could see how she was doing, and they could see where to go from there.

"Morning Slug a bug."

"Good morning."

"You have a doctor's appointment in a few hours."

"Ok."

"How are you feeling today?"

"My stomach hurts, but just a little."

"Ok well mama made some eggs, so eat up."

Callie ate every last bite of the food on her plate, she was starving. She had hardly eaten anything in the past few days and she finally felt well enough to eat without getting sick.

"I'm going to go outside with Jude."

"Ok, put your plate in the sink please."

Callie walked outside and where Jude, and Jesus where playing soccer.

"Can I play?"

"Sure, but I'm pretty good if I do say so myself."

"Ha, yeah I think I can manage to get the ball from you."

They started playing, shortly after Mariana and Brandon came out. "We want to play to."

"Sure, but I'm pretty good if I do say so myself." Callie said with her foot on the ball smirking at Jesus.

"I let her have the ball."

"Sure you did."

"No, really, I'm serious I decided to be a good brother and let her have it."

"Yeah, right. Come on let's play some ball."

Stef looked at the clock and saw it was already time to leave for Callie's doctor appointment. When she walked outside to get her, she was stopped by the sound of laughter. She had to pause for a moment and take it all in.

There was so much going on, so much stress. Callie was practically breaking down, and her other kids where on edge but kept silent. They all knew something was wrong with Callie, but no one knew what exactly, so the only thing they could do was make sure they were there for her, when she needed them.

But Stef and Lena knew this was hard on them, seeing Callie sick. They all knew what it was like to have the flu, they couldn't imagine what it felt like being sick for so long at a time.

It was a sound that she hadn't heard for a while. She had always thought the sound of children's laughter was precious, no matter how old they got. She wanted to stay in the moment for ever. Her kids laughing and playing together like they had no cares in the world.

They were all laying on the ground now, looking at the clouds, and finding shapes in them. In that moment Stef didn't want to disturbed them, she didn't want to interrupt them being kids for a change, just for a doctor appointment. She thought back to Callie's word the night before "When is this going to be over?"

She thought about that a lot, when will it end, when will there be no more doctors appointments? But in the back of her mind she knew it was only just the beginning, but it seemed like so long. The time just seems to drag out and fly by at the same time, doctors, sick nights with fevers and throwing up into a bucket. No one should have to deal with that, no child should have to, and no child who has already been dealt a bad hand of cards should have to go through it.

Stef got so lost in that moment, she didn't notice until Lena walked up behind her.

"It's nice isn't it?"

"If I'm thinking the same thing you are, then yes it's very nice."

"I wish it could be like this all the time."

"I know babe, but it can't and we need to go so we are not late."

"I know…"

"Sorry to break this up, but Callie has a doctor appointment we need to go to."

"Ugh, can't that wait till later?"

"No love, we have to leave now."

"Don't worry Callie we will do this again soon, it was fun."

"Yeah, it was fun, thanks guys."

"Let's go, car now, hurry we don't want to be late."

"Can you put the window up please? I'm kind of cold."

"It's nearly 80 degrees Callie, are you feeling ok?"

"Yeah, just a little cold."

"What are you thinking about bug?"

"Hmm, what?"

"You head is going somewhere, what are you thinking about?"

"Oh, nothing important."

"You can talk to us about anything."

"I don't know, I umm… I was just thinking about earlier. When I went outside to see Jude, he was playing with Jesus. He was just so happy, the smile on his face, I haven't seen that in a long time. He hasn't truly been happy for a while, I mean he is 13 and he always has to worry about being sent away and what each house holds behind the closed doors. But this place is different, he feels safe here, I feel safe here. I didn't think I would ever see that smile, or hear his laugh again, at least not that genuine. And then Mariana and Brandon came out to play with us… And I felt, I don't know excepted. Most foster siblings want nothing to do with us, the judge us, and bully us. But again, this time it's different. We don't get any of that from your kids or you, and it's nice for a change."

"Sweetie, we are so glad you feel that way. All of us, we love you, you and Jude made your way into our hearts and we couldn't imagine life without you. We are so happy that you feel safe and accepted with us, because you are."

"I guess, I just have to get used to this, I'm just scared because whenever I love someone, I lose them. I can't let myself love you like I should because, if I do, right when I open up I will be shipped away."

"Callie, no matter what, if you stay with us, or if you leave and get adopted by a wonderful family. You will always be our kids, we love you so much, and you can't get away from us now."

"Thank you Stef."

They got back to the doctor, and went through the process again. "The doctor will be back shortly."

"How are you feeling today Callie?"

"I'm fine."

"Ok, so as you already know the good news is you don't have Endometriosis. I'm sure you are probably wondering what the next step is? I'm going to give you referrals for a gastroenterologist at Rady children's hospital."

"Ok, how long should that take to get her in?"

"We won't know until you make the appointment. It shouldn't take that long considering there are 18 pediatric GI doctors in San Diego, and several at Rady's. You could wait up to 6 months, but given how many are in the area a month at the longest. Do you have any questions?"

"Callie has been experiencing some heartburn, what can we do for that?"

"I will put her on a medication called Zantac, we will see how she does on that. When you get into Rady, they may run a few tests, to find out how to better treat the heartburn if this medication does not work."

"Ok thanks so much."

"Have a nice day, I hope you start feeling better Callie."

"Thank you."

"Buckle up Callie."

"Why does everything have to take so long?"

"I don't know love."

"I would rather go and get it done and over with, then wait a month."

"I know bug, I wish it was faster to, but we don't know if it will be a month or not. I think with all the doctors we will be able to get in sooner."

"I hope so."

"Ok we will go to the pharmacy and get the medicine, and then go home and relax. How does that sound?"

"Sounds wonderful."

Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I have been really busy finishing school, raising money for an organization, running my own organization and packing boxes for sick kiddos, going to the doctor at least 3 times a week, and being sick. But I'm really going to try and update more often.